Hydrocarbon lighting system.



Gi K. HARDINGW' HYDROGARBON LIGHTING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION PILEDFEETJ 29y lglol'Y/#rYV u Patented Dec. 5, 1911.

| u I 4 1 l l :l

- UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES KNOX HARDINC, or CHICAC-o,` ILLINOIS.

HYDRCARBON LIGHTING SYSTEM. i

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES KNOX HARD- ING, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Woodlawn, city of Chicago, county of Cook,State .of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inHydrocarbon Lighting Systems, of whichV the following is aspecilication, which will enable others familiar with the art to makeand use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying` drawings,which 4form a part thereof.

My invention relates generally to hydrocarbon incandescent .lightingsystems, and moreV particularly to gasolene incandescent lightsoperating on what is known as the high-low system. l

The principal object of my inventionis to produce an eliicient light.from thevarious grades of gasolene, and maintain generation in such amanner that it can be operated for long periods of time withoutliability,of deposits or accumulations of less volatile ymatter being formed topreventv or interfere with its continuous use. l

My invention belongs to that vclass of lighting devices which areadapted to maintain themselves in a generated or heated conditionoverlong periods of time when no light is required, so as to be in readinessto supply the full amount of light vrequired as soon as an additionalsupply of'fuel is turned on. I-Ieretofore considerable ditliculty hasbeen encountered, preventing the attainment ofthe highest efliciency andeconomy in lamps ofthis kind. Where ythe small flame for generating andthe large flame for lighting themantle are both produced at the sameburner gauze in the mantleand .their relative size governed by varyingthe fuel supply, the relative proportions of fuel consumptionrespectively between the maximum and minimum is not very great. Somelamps of this class have been vespecially designed for the purpose ofreducing the minimum by integrating the vaporizing tube with the burnersand other highly heated parts in metallic heat conducting relation. Alamp of this construction will produce a small flame, suitable formaintaining a lamp at the generating temperature with less fuelconsumption than wouldfbe required fora lamp Vdesigned solely for theproduction of light with the greatest eiciency. But where the burnersare too close to the other parts, the combustible mixture becomes toovdiluted Specification of Letters Patent.

Application :filed September 29, 19,10.

Patented Dee. 5, 1911. Serial No. 584,734.

from expansion to produce the best light from the mantles.

As the best conditions of working in both high, and low burnings are notidentical, according to my invention, I employ in combination in alighting device, means for maintaining generation of the lamp mostsuitable for a small consumption of oil and means consisting of amodified adjustment of some of the parts for the production of light,

whereby the best construction for the production of light may beattained without sacrificing anything necessary to secure themaintenance of the lamp in a generatedk condition in the most economicalmanner.

. In the drawings which illustrate one form of my invention Figure' lshows a vertical central section of the stationary and moving `parts ofa pendant lamp. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2 2 of Fig. l, and shows yasection through the burner body, burner tubes, the

burners carried by the tubes a section lt-hrough the stationaryvaporizer and the adjustable heat collecting and conducting metal part,sliding in connection therewith;

Fig. 3 is a perspective 4view of the adjustable heat absorbing,collecting and conducting` member 6, adapted to slide in metalliccontact with the vaporizer.

As shown in the drawing, the lamp is adapted to operate and permit arelative movement of some of its parts so as to conform to therequirements of two somewhat distinct sets of conditions. Among thedesirable conditions when the lamp is burning low, the following maybementioned; The

vap'orizing tubes must be kept hot enoughl at some one point to preventfractional distillation of the mixed hydrocarbon of which commercialgasolene is composed, and kept hot enough from that point to the vapordischarge orifice to prevent fractional condensation of tarry matter.The velocity of theiiow of thevapor from the jet orifice should be lowerand the percentage of air taken in with the mixture should be less thanwhen used for incandescing a mantle. A slower velocity of flow of themixture will permit expanding and superheating the air and vapor withoutdisadvantage as the gauze opening will permit, the passage of thenecessary amount even when highly expanded and the heat absorbed by themixture will be given oli' at the burner and help heat the vaporizingtube.

For obtaining the maximum efficiency in the production of light thevapor must be discharged from the jet at the maximum velocityobtainable. It must take in a fixed percentage of its weight of air andthe mixture passed at as high velocity as possible through the burnerand burned in contact with an incandescent mantle at a sufficiently highrate to insure that the quant-ity of combustible reaching the mantle ina given time is sufficient to raise the temperature as high as possible.

The most perfect mixture is produced by passing the air and vapor at ahigh velocity through rather long passages between the jet and burnerand the mixture should not be expanded and have its calorific valuereduced until it has passed through the burner `openings to the mantle.

As illustrated in the drawings the moving parts of the lamp are shown inthefull lines in the position of' the parts when the lamp is burning forthe production of light and the dotted lines in Fig. 2 indicating theposition when the lamp is burning low.

The burner body 1 carries the downwardly extended burner tubes 2. Theburner tubes carry at their lower end the burners 3, having theperforated gauze 4, through which the gas mixture passes, and carry theincandescent mantles 5. The vaporizer 7 is also provided with anadjustable metal heat collecting and conducting piece 6, which isillustrated and shown in Fig. 8, which is supported by the bail 9 havingthe projecting roller 10 which is acted on by the cam 11.

Then the lamp is burning low and the piece 6 is in the position shown bythe dotted lines of Fig. 2, the flame will be small. and closey to theburner and may produce a small amount of light but its main function isto keep the heat absorbing and conducting piece 6, and the vaporizer ata high temperature. In this position the heat conducting piece 6 will bein metallic contact with the heat conveying metal part of the vaporizersurrounding the fuel supply tubes 8. The burner body 1 also carries theBunsen tube 12 extending horizontally across the central axis of thelamp, and terminating near the vapor discharge orifice. The outer end ofthe Bunsen tube is largely closed by the end of the valve which containsthe vapor jet orifice. The Bunsen tube is provided at its sides near thejet orifice with air inlet ports 13, and is surrounded by a rotatingsleeve 14 which is provided with similar air ports so that a partialrotation of the sleeve will open or close the air inlet passages throughthe ports.

In the operation of the lamp the liquid hydrocarbon enters through thepipe 8 and passes into the vaporizer 7 where it is converted into vaporand the vapor passes through the lateral arm 15 to the jet orifice 16.The discharge from the jet orifice 15 is controlled by inserting orwithdrawing a metallic wire about one one-thousandth of an inch smallerthan the internal diameter of the orifice. This wire is carried at theend of a rod 17, which extends through suitable packing devices and isprovided at its outer end with a screw threaded portion 18, having avery rapid pitch so that approximately a quarter of a revolution willproduce motion enough to insert or withdraw the wire from the orifice.The screw 18 is provided on its outer end with a collar 19, having thearms v20 and 21 extending radially and carrying chains depending fromtheir respective ends, so that by pulling down on the chain of arm 20,the collar 19 is rotated to the right and the wire is inserted into theorifice 16, thus reducing the How- The collar 19 also carries an arm 22extending inwardly parallel to the rod 17 which engages the sides of anopening 23. In the disk 24 which is mounted on the rotating .sleeve 14,the rotating sleeve 14 also carries the cam 11, which engages the roller10 on the upper portion of the bail 9,' which supports the adjustableheat absorbing and conducting piece 6, adapted to surround and inclose apart of the burner and mantles, so that a rotation of the sleeve and camof about one-fourth of a revolution lowers the piece 6 into the lowerposition where it is in the most effective heat communicating relationto the vaporizer as it is and in metallic heat conducting relationtherewith and close heat absorbing, collecting and communicatingrelation to the mantles and burners. The rotation of the valve and camas above described also simultaneously rotates the sleeve 14 and shutterpartially closes the air admission posts 13 and reduces the supply ofair to the Bunsen tube.

In operating the lamp as by pulling down on the chain connecting arm 20,the various moving parts of the apparatus will be placed in the positionbest adapted for the maintenance of the lamp in a generated conditionwith a minimum consumption of fuel. It will be understood that bypulling t-he opposite chain connected with the arm 21, the vapordischarge orifice will be enlarged, the heat absorbing member will beraised and the burners and mantles will be left in a position morefavorable for the distribution of light. 'Ihe air ports will also beopened permitting the full supply of air to the Bunsen tube.

The burners 4 may be of the usual construction having a perforated gauze5 in its lower surface through which the aseous mixture passes to themantles andg being adapted on its outer circumference to hold aninverted mantle 5 which may be tied on or Secured to the burner in anysuitable manner. The burner gauze may, however, be made with somewhatlarger openings vthan those heretofore successfully used in lamps ofordinary construction because when the oil supply is reduced, the airsupply is also simultaneously reduced to such an extent as to preventthe iiame from ash- Ving back through the gauze.

It is well known that the inflammability of a mixture of hydrocarbon andair as well as the rate of propagation of flame through such a mixtureincreases very rapidly as the percentage of air approaches the quantitynecessary for the complete combustion of the vhydrocarbon present in themixture so that a highly explosive mixture cannot be advantageously usedwhen supplied through gauze openings at a relatively slow velocity, aswould be most advantageous to use for the maintenance of the relativelylow temperature necessary to maintain a lamp in the generated condition,while for incandescing a mantle the highest velocities of iiow and themost inflammable mixture conduce to the highest lighting efficiency.

Having now described my invention and illustrated one method by which itmay be carried out, what I claim is:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a vaporizer having a jetoriice-and' means for controlling the flow of vapor therefrom, a Bunsentube and a burner connecting therewith, said bunsen having means forcontrolling the admission of air thereto, a vaporizer andA movable heatabsorbing and communicating means adapted to conduct heat thereto incombination with means for simultaneously decreasing the flow of vaporfrom said jet orifice, decreasing the admission of air to said burnerland moving said heat absorbing means into a position more closelysurrounding and inclosing the aforesaid burner.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, comprising a vaporizer, aBunsen tube, a burner communicating with said bunsen in combination withadjustable heat absorbing, collecting and conducting means in heatconducting relation to the said vaporizer and movable into positionsurrounding and inclosing a large portion of said burner, when theapparatus is operating with the minimum consumption of fuel.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, consisting of avaporizer, a bumsen, an inverted burner communicating with said bunsen,an inverted incandescent mantle for said burner in combination with amovable radiant energy absorbing and heat conducting means in metallicheat conducting relation to said vaporizer and adjustable into positionsurrounding and inclosing a portion of the burner and mantle whenfthelamp is maintaining generation with the minimum consumption of fuel.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, comprising means forproducing a scribed, the combination of a burner, a vaorizer havino a vaor -et orifice and means Vvfor controlling the flow of vapor therefrom,

a Bunsen tube having air inlet ports and means for regulating theadmission of air thereto and means for simultaneously increasing theflow of vapor and the admission of air or for simultaneously reducingthe iiow of vapor and simultaneously reducing .the admission of air to arelatively greater extent so as to secure a less inflammable combustiblemixture.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of meansfor simultaneously adjusting a` plurality of working parts for themaintenance of generation, including operating means for reducing theflow of vapor, adjustable means for reducing the admission of air, forforming a less explosive combustible mixture, 4and adjustable heatabsorbing means in contact with the vaporizer and surrounding the burnerand mantle, to secure the closest heat communlcating relation for themost economical maintenance of generation.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses this 27th day of September, A. D.1910.

CHARLES KNOX HARDING.

Witnesses:

A. vM. FAIRCHILD, HELEN WILSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

